responses etc.

[hsu@uicsrd.CSRD.UIUC.EDU (William Tsun-Yuk Hsu)]

Just finished wading thru the past week's lovehounds mail... some comments:
   
Hofboyy asks:
>1) Who are the English bands that don't suck?

Bands that are (probably) still around: Crystallized Movements, Bourbonese
Qualk (not sure if they're British), most of the Recommended Records stable.
For some strange reason they don't get much attention from the trendy
music press... :-)

>(Greg:  Actually I don't think Big Black would really mind too much
>        being compared to early Cab Voltaire.)

The thing that surprised me most when I first heard Atomizer was how
danceable some of the cuts are. Love those catchy syncopated mutant funk 
grooves... dance music for the apocalypse, if nothing else. I wanted
to play Bazooka Joe at a wedding dance (first choice was Fists of Love,
but I thought something less, um, extreme might be appropriate :-)) but
never got the chance...

Hof also asked for a review of Savage Republic's Ceremonials. Well, I
liked some of the cuts but can't get too excited about most of it.
Very '70s artrock-influenced stuff, with several long instrumentals.
The thundering tribal drums and distorted guitars that made the first album 
so special have been toned down in favor of acoustic guitars and keyboards.
A must if you loved middle Pink Floyd, early King Crimson, Genesis,
Renaissance etc. and must have more music in a similar vein. I was a
big '70s fan but right now am in the mood for less sentimental and
more abrasive stuff. (Let's see how long John Hogge can resist the
temptation to post an opposing opinion. :-) He loves this album.)

A token review of something I just got in the mail:

Hartman/Bourbonese Qualk	Music to Work By

...or some similar title. A split tape (advertised as 80 minutes but shorter
because the Hartman side is short) from two industrial/electronic groups.
I don't know if this is good music to work by since when I listened to it
I was not working but tossing out moldy bread from my refrigerator which
I accidentally turned off before I went out of town. It certainly is decent
music to clean out refrigerators by, tho. The Hartman side is fairly
minimal, with tape loops of complaints about how tedious everthing is and
occasional instrumental passages. The BQ side is much more interesting,
with their usual blend of acoustic instruments and electronic noise. Some
of the BQ tracks were done live. You also get a sticker (design from
the cover of BQ's Preparing for Power) with the tape. Get it used for
the BQ side, I guess.

Bill